The powerful female voice on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" belonged to Merry Clayton, who offers her own funky take on that classic in this 17-song collection, drawn mainly from her early '70s LPs Gimme Shelter and Merry Clayton. Equally potent are her readings of Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," James Taylor's "Country Road," Neil Young's "Southern Man," and the Who's "The Acid Queen" (which precedes Tina Turner's version from the Tommy movie). Clayton also grooves to the Doors' "Tell All the People," Bill Withers's "Grandma's Hands," and Bob Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn" while offering deeply emotive readings of Leon Russell's "A Song for You," and Carole King's "After All This Time" and "Oh No, Not My Baby." Other highlights include a socko single of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" from 1972 and "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" from the 1970 soundtrack to Robert Altman's Brewster McCloud.